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ACWA Welcomes You
The ACWA Board of Directors, its officers and members would like to welcome you to the online home of the American Chuck Wagon Association, a 501.c.3 organization.
About Our Association
Get To Know Us
The American Chuck Wagon Association started out as a small group of Old West enthusiasts and has expanded to world wide association preserving the American past through competitions, demonstrations, charity and school events and other venues.
Our work is funded by sponsorships, tax-free donations, honorariums and memorials;
(We are a 501.c.3 organization);
cap sales in our General Store (go shopping); as well as membership dues.
For donations, honorariums and memorials, you may send a check or money order to:
ACWA, P.O. Box 626, Belton, TX 76513.
For Honorariums and Memorials, please include the name of the person remembered/honored, and an address for a thank you card.
Youth & the ACWA
ACWA knows our future lies in our youth and we support them by offering scholarships, helping with youth cook offs, demonstrations and other educational activities at cook offs, schools and other events. Check out the YOUTH page for more information.
ACWA Scholarships
Scholarship recipients for the 2022-2023 school year are Reatta Conway from Goodwell, Oklahome and Cloe Swanson from Canton, South Dakota.
Youth Cook Offs
For more information about youth cook offs, see our page. If your organization would like to request up to $150 and other ACWA supplies for a youth cook off, download the form and submit to
via email at wishbonewagon@yahoo.com
or
via mail to PO Box 85, Axtell, TX 76624
Education
The American Chuck Wagon Association is always looking at ways to involve and educate our youth. Another way many involve the youth are through chuck wagon demonstrations. If you or your organization have hosted a chuck wagon demonstration, please send the information on your event along with any pictures to acwa@chuckwagon.org so we can post it onto our ACWA Facebook as well as feature your event in the next edition of the ACWA Monthly Update or ACWA quarterly newsletter, Under the Fly.
Expansion
Currently ACWA has limited funding for these activities but through your generosity we want to expand our funding of scholarships, youth cook offs and other events! Please consider giving donation or memorial (specify on your gift YOUTH) so we can continue and even expand ACWA's involvement.
General Store
ACWA provides quality merchandise so check it out! Whether you are wanting to cook up some authentic chuck wagon meals or show off your support of ACWA through the purchase of a cap or apron...we have something for everyone! Click here to check out what we have!
Chuck Wagon Catering
Many of our members offer catering services. Check out the link above to contact one of them about bringing some of the finest chuck wagon cooking to your next event.
ACWA News & Events
For upcoming events, click on the EVENTS tab.September 2022, President's Message
Hello Friends,
I hope this message finds you doing well! I am excited to take on this new role as your 2022 President of the
American Chuck Wagon Association.
My love affair with chuck wagons started way back in high school. It was by happenstance that I wrote my
senior paper on Charles Goodnight and then discovered more about the chuck wagon and how he was
credited with inventing it.
As a young man, I was always interested in cooking outdoors -- whether it is with Dutch ovens at deer camp or
smoking meat in my smoker and then later moving on to a larger smoker on a trailer. I love cooking for large
groups and for years wanted a chuck wagon. I spent hours researching and looking online when on my 40th
birthday my wife surprised me with the idea of purchasing our first chuck wagon. Since then and following
some "wagon trading" I now own a 1890 model Bain wagon with a chuck box on it that fits me well.
You can find my son, Grady and I cooking on the wagon quite often, whether it is at a local church or on a
ranch, participating in a competition, veteran event, or somewhere doing a catering job. No matter the
setting, we love every minute of it.
Lately I've been doing YouTube videos cooking on the wagon and they have been extremely fun. I have
viewers from all over the world commenting on my videos.
It is going to be an honor serving as the 2022 President of the American Chuck Wagon Association and I look
forward to meeting many of you along the way!
Best Regards,
Justin Jackson
2022 ACWA President
A Little History
In 1996 at a chuck wagon competition in Amarillo, Texas, a small group of Old West enthusiasts and wagon masters talked about an
association. The mission would be to preserve the heritage of the chuck wagon and its use in the short, but significant, era of the cattle
drives. In 1997, in Bryson, Texas, by-laws and articles of operation were adopted and the American Chuck Wagon Association was off and
running. Today there are members in 31 states, Canada, Germany and France.
Mission statement - Revised 2020
The mission statement of the American Chuck Wagon Association is:
To preserve the heritage of the Chuck Wagon.
This will be accomplished by the following Core Values:
- Integrity.
- Education on historically correct aspects of Chuck Wagons and its importance to the beef cattle industry.
- Fair competitive events and the promotion of youth cook-offs.
- Fun for people passionate about chuck wagons.
- A desire to support our communities through various outreaches and educational scholarships.
- Inspiring future generations to embrace the chuck wagon and western heritage.
Effective October 1, 2020 - ACWA Contact Info:
ACWA, P O Box 626, Belton, Texas 76513
Email: acwa@chuckwagon.org
Phone: 940-532-1788
Latest News............
The 2022 ACWA Annual meeting will be on Friday, November 4th and Saturday, November 5th at Casey's Cowtown Club located at 503 East Trail in Dodge City, Kansas. The meeting will begin on Friday, November 4th with a 1/2 session and a full day on Saturday, November 5th. Click here for the full 1.5 days agenda items.
Lodging will be at the Holiday Inn Express, 201 4th Avenue, Dodge City, Kansas. For reservations, call 620-225-1000 and ask for the General Manager. The ACWA special rate is $115 per night. Special rates will be available until October 1,2022.
For those with RV's there is a KOA campground close to Holiday Inn Express. It is also managed by the General Manager of the Holiday Inn Express so you can call 620-225-1000 for more information.
2023 Board of Directors: The deadline of July 20, 2022, was reached and the Nominating Committee reported to the ACWA Board of Directors the members' response to the request for nominations for the three Board of Director vacancies only yielded one nominee, Darryl Jacobs of Texarkana, Arkansas. On August 9, 2022, at the monthly Board of Directors' meeting the Directors discussed and reviewed the current by-laws and parliamentary procedures.
After the review and brief discussion, the Board voted to fill the remaining two Board of Director vacancies for a one-year term as outlined in the current ACWA By-Laws. The two directors with a one-year appointment are Clint Combs of Las Vegas, Nevada and Leon Fischer of Chattanooga, Oklahoma. Therefore, since there is only one nominee for the Board vacancies, it did not require the ACWA members to vote for the director nominees.
Next Steps... 2023 ACWA Officer Positions: After a discussion with all the eligible Board of Directors, the only candidates willing to serve in the 2023 ACWA Officer positions were: Terry Green -- Vice President; Darryl Jacobs -- Secretary; and Clint Combs -- Treasurer. Of course, per the ACWA By-Laws John Conway will move up from Vice President to President.
By September 27th a notice will go out to each member to allow the membership to discuss with other eligible directors their willingness to serve as an officer and to nominate them for the officer positions.
Any nominations must be submitted by October 6, 2022 to Todd Limke, Chairman of the Nominating Committee by email: tlimke@cox.net or be postmarked by the deadline and sent to Todd Limke, P O Box 1481, Choctaw, Oklahoma 73020.
By October 14th, the ACWA Nominating Committee will create a ballot to be sent to the entire membership to vote on the officer positions.
Members will have until October 27th to cast their votes for the officer positions. Announcement of the 2023 ACWA Officer positions will be made at the 2022 ACWA Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 5, 2022 in Dodge City, Kansas.
Think about joining up...
You may pay online by going to the Membership tab of this website OR by
printing off the 2022 ACWA Membership form and mailing your check or money order to: ACWA, P O Box 626,
Belton, Texas 76513. You do NOT need to complete a new membership form
UNLESS your contact information has changed, i.e., street address, email
address, etc.
Website Ad: Cost will remain the same as 2021 as $120/year; Newsletter Ad:
Cost will remain the same as 2021 as $100/year. You may pay for your ads online
by going to the Membership tab of this website and use PayPal to complete your
purchas, or you may mail your check or money order to: ACWA, P O
Box 626, Belton, Texas 76513.
Resources:
ACWA Trifold Brochure
Chuck Wagon Round Up Guidelines
Recommendations for a Chuck Wagon Event and COVID-19
Acquiring Liability Coverage for My Chuck Wagon Team -- Paul Geeslin
Read the latest by-laws here.
Members participate in Cook off competitions, demonstrations, catering, charity events, school visits and many other activities to fulfill that original mission and even surpass the dreams of those organizers. Thank you for visiting our site and we hope you will visit one or more of our chuck wagon events.